Anthem: Part II
by DRooDigger
Summary: This was originally a project for my 10th grade English class. I'm quite proud of it, and I believe that it completes Ayn Rand's original novella nicely. It picks up right where Rand's novella leaves off... Chapter 13.
1. XIII

Anthem: Part II

by: DRooDigger

XIII

It has been three years since we- no…. since _I_ have written. I must get used to referring to myself as an individual.

We- that is, Gaea and I- wondered what we should name our son upon his arrival. All Gaea and I knew is that we were going to break the chains of our former society and give our son a proper name from birth. Equality 7-2521 is not a proper name. Liberty 5-3000 is not a proper name. Prometheus is a proper name, as is Gaea. They offer individuality, and individuality is what we wanted for our son.

Just before our son was born, I found myself digging through the thousands of books from the Unmentionable Times that I discovered, and came across a book that looked older than most of the others. It said "Greek Mythology" on the front of it, and had a picture of a large muscular man with long gray hair standing on a cliff surrounded by lightning. It was a worn picture. This book had obviously been used heavily before it had been stored here. I looked through this book and came across an extensive list of Greek gods and goddesses. The god Prometheus and the goddess Gaea were listed there. But these gods I knew about from previous studies. I eventually came across a god that intrigued me. There was a small symbol next to the description that caught my eye; a rod with a serpent wrapped around it. This god was said to be the god of something called "medicine". "Medicine", according to the book, was apparently something from the Unmentionable Times that cured illness and disease. In the Accursed Place, we had Doctors, but they rarely did any good. They attached leeches to the skin to get rid of bad blood, but this only seemed to make people sicker. After all, they could never do anything to cure Union 5-3992, Fraternity 2-5503, and Solidarity 9-6347. We named our son after this god, with the hope that he would bring "medicine" to our new world like his namesake did to the old world. We named our son Asclepius.

Gaea gave birth to Asclepius almost three years ago. We have been preoccupied with him ever since. I have waited for him to be old enough to no longer be too much work for Gaea to handle alone before I go out to handle the daunting task of liberating my brethren. I vowed when I last wrote three years ago that I would set the rest of my companions who are still enslaved by that evil word, "we", free. I would never leave Gaea home alone with our infant son for an extended period. Now, however, Asclepius is old enough to know the difference between what is right and what is wrong. Gaea is perfectly capable of handling him alone while I liberate my old friends. So, tomorrow I will take leave in the dead of night. I shall leave a note for Gaea, explaining my absence, and I shall go to the Accursed Place that bound me since birth. And I shall break the bonds that hold my friends to that place, and set them free. I shall bring them back here, and start a new society; a proper society; a society where everyone is an individual. _I_ shall do this myself, as an individual, not as part of a unit; as "I", not as part of "We".


	2. XIV

XIV

There is much that has occurred since I departed from my home. First and foremost, I barely took one step into the Accursed Place before realizing that I was no longer welcome there. There were two sheets of paper on every building. One said: RUNAWAY WANTED: Equality 7-2521. The other predictably said: RUNAWAY WANTED: Liberty 5-3000. "But my name is no longer Equality 7-2521," I reasoned with myself. "I have a new name now; Prometheus. Therefore, I am not 'wanted'." With this slightly comforting thought, I continued on. I walked through the streets. I thought this may be easier than I had first anticipated. After all, the Palace of Corrective Detention had no guards; who would look for me? They wouldn't change their society just because of a couple of runaways, would they? At least, not this quickly. Perhaps I could just take my friends and leave. If only it had been that easy. As I headed toward the Home of the Street Sweepers, I nearly ran right into Collective 0-0009. A sense of doom came over me. I was one of the two greatest convicts the Accursed Place had ever known. And Collective 0-0009 was the eldest of the World Council of Scholars. I didn't stand a chance. I was instantly placed into the Palace of Corrective Detention.

"We will hold a trial for you, later," said Collective 0-0009. "For now, you will stay here. Rest assured, Street Sweeper, your punishment will be severe…." They departed from the palace without another word. I felt as if I had just entered my own personal hell. They were going to strip me of my individuality again. They were going to call me that horrible name; Equality 7-2521. In trying to free my friends, I had been recaptured. Now, I found, there was nothing to do but wait for my trial.

The first surprise I faced in the palace was that a lock had been placed on my door. It was a genuine, sturdy lock. The second surprise is that there was a guard standing outside my door. Was this what it took to bring change to this Accursed Place? Someone to break away from the collective group. Was it possible that in breaking away from the Accursed Place, I had caused the change that I'd dreamed of the entire time I had lived there? "No," I thought. They were more afraid of change than they were of me. They had simply added security to the Palace to keep me in this time. And now, I was to be held accountable for my crime. The crime of being an individual.


	3. XV

XV

The Council of Scholars held a trial for me a few weeks later. I was brought in before the Council. Collective 0-0009 began. "Equality 7-2521. You have been bought before the World Council of Scholars today to face punishment for your crimes. You have run away from us, along with Liberty 5-3000 for reasons unknown. This is against the law. You have broken away from the great 'We'. For this, you shall be punished. Equality 7-2521, is there anything you have to say in your defense?"

"That is not my name." I replied softly.

"What was that?" replied Fraternity 9-3452. "We couldn't hear you. Do you have nothing to say, Street Sweeper? Do you plead guilty?"

"That is not my name!" I said. "My name is not Equality 7-2521. I am an individual. I refuse to be part of this society. I will not be part of a society that won't even make a simple change such as replacing candles with glass bulbs that make light for you. I will not be part of a society that refuses to seize opportunities to improve their society. I am not Equality 7-2521. I am Prometheus."

"How dare you!" exclaimed Democracy 4-6998. "You are an insolent fool! We propose that you bring Liberty 5-3000 to us. Then, you shall be tortured and executed for your crime."

"No!" I said. "You shall not have Gaea. And only over my dead body shall you take Asclepius."

"Even under threat of death, you still dare to speak the Unspeakable Word," said Unanimity 7-3304. "If you shall not take us to her of your own free will, then we shall force you to."

"If we may interject," said International 1-5537. "What are 'Gaea' and 'Asclepius'?"

"Gaea is my true love and Asclepius is my child. We are not your property. We are free men. _I _am a free man," I said. "Please, listen to me. I understand that this is not your fault. Your upbringing is to blame. Your fathers and your father's fathers raised you this way. I was raised this way too. But I broke the chains of 'We' and am living my own life now. My brothers…. You can follow me. Together, we can start a new society where we call ourselves 'I' instead of 'we'; a society of individualism, instead of collectivism. We don't have to live this way anymore. If we start this new society, those who are forty-five won't even be close to ancient. People could eventually live to be eighty, even ninety years old. We could have technology beyond any of your wildest dreams. I have done my research. I learned this from books from the so called 'Unspeakable Times'. I know that deep down in your hearts, you all have dreams, and you all loathe the lives you live. Please, let me go, and follow me into a future brighter than the Unmentionable Times, and even more structured than current times. Will you hear my plea?"

"You call yourselves Prometheus, do you?" said Solidarity 8-1164. "Why do you call yourselves this name, Equality 7-2521?" I knew immediately that they had not been swayed. If any of them actually found the idea of a new society compelling, they didn't dare vocalize their desire to follow me.

"I call myself Prometheus because I brought light to you, the World Council of Scholars, and you rejected the idea out of hand and punished me for it. In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a god who stole fire, in other words, light, from Zeus, the king of the gods. He was then punished for his crime."

"What was their punishment?" asked Alliance 6-7349.

"He was bound to a rock, and an eagle ate his liver," I replied. "You plan to do the same to me, do you?"

"No," said Harmony 9-2642. "You shall face a greater punishment. We propose that you be sent back to your 'new society' to live in a place where you can do no harm to us. You will never return to this place. Individuality has no place in our society. We guarantee that this new society of yours will crumble quickly. Then, you will come crawling back to us, but you shall not be allowed among us. We will leave you and your lover and your child to starve. You will all die in the end, and you will realize that we were right and you were wrong all along. Does the Council agree to these terms?" The Council broke into feverish mutterings.

"I'll leave here forever if you let me take my friends with me," I said. "I want nothing to do with this Accursed Place. But I want my friends."

"Enough," said Collective 0-0009. "The Council of Scholars will deliberate. Until we reach a decision, you shall return to the Palace of Corrective Detention."


	4. XVI

XVI

It took the Council longer than anyone had anticipated to decide my fate. I had been in the Palace of Corrective Detention for two months when I began to have conversations with the guard of my cell; a man by the name of Justice 5-9505. He was a friendly man. I knew he only kept me locked up because it was his job. "How are you today, Equality 7-2521?" he'd ask as he bought me my evening meal. "Are you feeling well? You look pale. Perhaps you should eat something."

"I feel fine, thank you, sir. I'm just sick of being locked up in here. I need to get back to my family. And my name isn't Equality 7-2521 anymore, remember? It's Prometheus." I knew he wouldn't call me Prometheus. No one in the Accursed Place would. But I thought if I could gain an ally in this man, then there may be hope after all.

"We were there at your trial, you know," said Justice 5-9505. "We were standing guard to ensure you didn't make a break for it. We found your speech about a new society rather…. compelling. We would be executed for saying so before the Council, but we think they are all rather deluded. They think advancements in society would harm us instead of benefit us, and we don't see their logic in that."

"You are a free-thinker, too?" I asked. I was excited. Perhaps I could convince him to join me.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"I mean that you don't like your lifestyle here and you want to leave," I said. "Am I correct in saying that?"

He hesitated. I knew it was difficult for anyone in this society to break away from the great 'We'. So I was patient with him. After a few minutes of him mumbling unintelligibly and stuttering, he finally got quiet, gulped, and said "Yes. Yes_ I_ am. I want to go with you. Prometheus."


	5. XVII

XVII

I had done it. I had found the "Achilles Heel" of the Accursed Place's society. Justice 5-9505. I rechristened him "Achilles". He accepted this name. Achilles released me from the Palace of Corrective Detention in the dead of night. He took me to all of my friends. All I told them was "Come with me". They obliged, and followed me into the woods. We found Gaea and Asclepius at my home. She ran to me, and held me tight.

"You've returned," she whispered.

"Daddy," Asclepius said. "Where did you go, Daddy?"

"I went to a horrible place. A place that you will never have to go to, Asclepius. Never. You are you, Asclepius, and no one else. Remember that.


	6. Epilogue

Epilogue

It has been more than twenty years since my father last wrote in this book. He is old now, but he will live longer than any man in living memory has. I, Asclepius, have improved the health of our people by a great deal. My father, Prometheus, is fifty-two years old and is still very much alive. My father told me stories of the "old society". A society of collectivism instead of a society of individualism. He spoke of something called the horrible "We". He said that he'd kept a close eye on that society, until about ten years ago, when there was a horrible riot over whether collectivism was right or individualism. After my father's departure with his friend Achilles, the news spread through what my father dubbed "The Accursed Place" like wildfire, and a schism was created that divided them. One group in the schism supported the society already in place. A new group revolted, thinking that those who left had the right idea. So, they tried to change the society for good, but the Council of Scholars wouldn't allow it. So, they had civil war for ten years, until it came to a head and the entire Accursed Place was destroyed. Now, those times are the "Unspeakable Times". We live in a new era of peace, technology, medicine, and perhaps most importantly, individualism. I end this record that my father started on this note; those who lose themselves to "We" are not truly living. They are merely existing. To live is to have meaning. And without meaning, life is pointless. With the end of this document, I remove the taboo from the Unspeakable Word. The great "I".


End file.
